S.F. Police Chief Releases Racist Texts Sent By Cops

San Francisco's police chief has released transcripts of a former lieutenant and two former officers exchanging racist text messages.

Investigators found the text messages on the personal phones of the officers during criminal probes of former officer Jason Lai and retired Lt. Curtis Liu.

Police Chief Greg Suhr provided additional transcripts and copies of photos with racist captions that were found on Liu's phone to The Associated Press Thursday. He also provided additional transcripts found on Lai's phones.

"The vast majority of police officers are shaken," Suhr said. "The expectations have never been higher, so when officers do something like this, the disappointment can't be greater."

Suhr ordered that all San Francisco officers attend an anti-harassment class as a result of the development.

The names of those involved in the racist and homophobic conversations Suhr provided were redacted. Suhr said that Lai, Liu and an unidentified third former officer sent and received many of the messages. He also said several civilians were involved.

Lai resigned earlier this month and Liu retired last year. The unidentified officer also resigned and a fourth officer also implicated in the texting scandal Suhr declined to identify is facing dismissal before the city's Police Commission.

The newly provided transcripts denigrate minority suspects with racial slurs and they insult colleagues they perceive to be gay and ridicule Blacks in Ferguson, Mo.

They discuss a shootout among Black men and the shooting of an armed suspect by police. In doing so, they appear to ridicule the shooting death by police in 2014 of a mentally ill man carrying a stun gun officers mistook for a handgun.

They also exchanged photographs with racist captions.

One photo depicts a white man playfully spraying a young black child with a garden hose. The caption calls the young boy a racial slur.

There's a photo of smoke rising above San Francisco and guesses are exchanged about the origins of the fire.

"Must be Korean BBQ," quips one.

"I heard was a slave ship!!" quips another.

Public defender Jeff Adachi released transcripts of racist text messages Lai sent earlier in the week. Adachi received the transcripts because he is representing a defendant Lai helped investigate.

Liu's attorney Tony Brass said Thursday night that the texts investigators turned over to him show Liu only on the receiving end. But Brass said he may not be privy to all Liu's texts, only the ones that pertain to his criminal case.

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